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I-League : Chennai City FC Face DSK Test

Bottom-placed Chennai City FC will be hosting DSK Shivajians at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai on Sunday (March 5, 2017).

The hosts have no option but to go for an outright win against DSK Shivajians who are placed sixth, having gathered two points more than Chennai City. A win on the night will definitely lift V Soundararajan’s side above their opponents while a DSK win will see them put some daylight between themselves and the teams fighting it out at the bottom.

Chennai City are coming off two back-to-back defeats to Shillong Lajong and Aizawl FC while DSK Shivajians suffered a demoralising setback against Churchill Brothers last week.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Chennai City coach V Soundararajan claimed that his side will go into this match, looking for the full quota of three points.

“After the Aizawl defeat, we have worked really well. We are confident and we will go all out against DSK Shivajians. We were very poor after the Aizawl game. We have changed our system. We are in the same position like we played Mumbai. We are bottom now but all we need is a win to propel us back up the table,” he assessed.

The gaffer also revealed that his young players have been taking part in the local league games in order to gain some match practice. Further, he stated that he intends to start Sunday’s game with all his four foreign recruits – Charles de Souza, Haroon Amiri, Aniyiche Echezona and Marcos Vinicius.

Denson Devadas (knee) and Raju Yumnam are doubtful for the fixture while Tamil Nadu-born winger Edwin is ruled out for the hosts.

DSK Shivajians boss Dave Rogers sounded extremely confident ahead of the game and chose not to reflect much on their loss to Churchill Brothers in the previous game.

He said, “Every game’s a must-win game. In the last game, the first half was even. We have academy players in the squad and they had chances but the opposition took theirs. That’s football. You have to take the chances.”

“This is our fifth away game and we’ve been travelling a lot. The journey has taken its toll on us. If we take a look at the bigger picture, we’ve been introducing young players in our squad. We could say that this season we’ve been inconsistent with respect to results. But these boys have been an absolute credit with their performances. We will try and get all three points on Sunday,” Rogers stated.

On the opposition, Rogers opined, “It’s great to have them in the league. It’s a great place (Chennai). They have a new coach. That might give them a lift. Anyone can put a run of form together. That’s what makes the league interesting.”

He also revealed that their star striker Kim Seong-Yong has been ruled out for the season after he picked up a ligament injury while Sumeet Passi (ankle) and Sascha Kolunija are still out.

Before he concluded, Rogers opined that young players need to be given adequate chances and pointed out DSK Shivajians’ work in that regard.